SLi Invitational 5: The end of the run

The rematch of NAVI.GG.BET against Fnatic saw an exciting Bo3 series. The end of the games saw Natus Vincere drop the series 1:2, leaving the tournament.

Game 1 - Natus Vincere [0:1] Fnatic

The first game started somewhat slowly, with the First Blood coming at 3 minutes. Both teams were trying to secure the farm for the cores; Crystallize had a nice lane against Faceless Void, farming to his heart's content, with Radiance at 17 minutes. A few ganks happened all over the map, and the kill and net worth advantage shifted the way of the opponent - Dire.

As the T1 fell in the middle lane, NAVI went for the first Roshan of the game, yet the Aegis was lost rather quickly by Lifestealer in a follow-up fight. However, Crystallize managed to bait the opponents under the T2, and they paid for it dearly. With most of Fnatic dead, NatusVincere went for the top lane again, taking yet another good fight.

As the game went on, we lost some fights, allowing Fnatic to take over the map control. For a while, nothing happened, as both teams farmed up, with occasional fights. Ultimately, 41 minutes in Fnatic took the third Roshan of the game and settled on our side of the map. The opponents kept probing and sieging the base, but did not manage to do so. At 50 minutes the opponents finally made a move, but it did not give them much - even if we had to buyback, not only we repelled the push, but killed off 4 heroes.

The successful fight turned into the Roshan, with the Aegis taken by Dendi. 3 minutes later, we've lost the fight on the top lane, and with no buybacks, we could not defend against the coming push. The best efforts of our heroes fell short of stopping Fnatic - NatusVincere drop game 1.

Game 2 - Natus Vincere [1:1] Fnatic

The second game of the series saw NAVI take advantage of the opportunity to grab kills. This way, we established map dominance - by 13 minutes we were already 8 kills up, and the net worth advantage was about 10k gold. The push was also present on our side - by 14 minutes Fnatic only had 1 T2 standing. As the game approached 20 minutes, Fnatic still had only 2 kills.

21 minutes in NAVI decided to go for the high ground. We've successfully taken down the entirety of the middle lane and shifted the attention towards the bottom. Fnatic were rather lost on the map, locked in their base very early on. We've gathered on the top lane to try and get the Mega Creeps, but we didn't even get to that part - as the opponents lost all their cores, they GG-ed out of the game, and we tie the series 1:1.

Game 3 - Natus Vincere [1:2] Fnatic

It all came down to this final map. NAVI yet again went for a rather aggressive gameplay, but Fnatic was rather careful, trying to not give away frags. By 10 minute there were only 6 kills done on the map - even though 4 of those were for Fnatic, the lead was shifting back and forth. Despite the early game, we've managed to recuperate by securing a few core kills.

As the game hit 20 minutes, NatusVincere had a slight 2-3k net worth advantage. Soon, both teams set their eyes on the prized Roshan. The standoff was a rather long one; NAVI even had to commit buybacks, but still, the Aegis was taken by Fnatic. That seemed to be the turning point of the game - the opponents managed to turn the game around, and soon they hit 11k net worth advantage. We really needed to change our approach to the game, as we fell behind.

Crystallize decided to go for a rather late Battle Fury, but for the time being, it was still a long shot. NatusVincere tried to go for an ambush, but the Dire were ready and turned on us. GG WP - we lost our cores, and the series 1:2. NAVI.GG.BET end the run.